


Black feathers

by emulikule



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: AU, Fantasy, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, bird courting rituals that don't go as planned, shun is ready to fight everyone but what else is new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-10 10:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emulikule/pseuds/emulikule
Summary: Wandering in forests isn't the best idea for little kids, who knows, maybe you'll run into a wild animal or another kid that would look pretty normal if not for the wings at his back?A story about a distant kingdom where everything would seem at place if not for the occasional sightings of creatures that shouldn't exist, a prince that probably has more up his sleeve than he is letting on, friendly palace workers and an orphan boy who just wanted to explore the woods that surround their quaint town.





	1. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

Everything seemed a lot more subdued amongst the towering trees of the forest – the sounds were more distant, not like the constant mixture of chatter, shouts and crashing noises that followed him everywhere he went in the orphanage. Even the atmosphere of the simple sunny day came off as more removed from the ones that Yuuto had become so used to.

Another small rustle further away from him indicated where the boy needed to go if he wanted to achieve his goal. He placed his steps as carefully as a little kid could and peeked from behind one of the trees. The white fur shimmered between the greenery surrounding it and Yuuto momentarily forgot his own imposed rule of being as quiet as he could muster. The small gasp escaped him and that was all it took for the animal to perk up its long ears and book it.

“No, wait!” all traces of caution were now thrown away as Yuuto shouted after his fleeing interest, not thinking too much as he began running after it as well.

The forest wasn’t too dark, but there were so many things growing on the ground, most of which the kid couldn’t name. It was hard not getting his clothes caught on something or stumbling over the uneven terrain, but at this moment he didn’t care. All that he was focused on was the ball of white still somewhere in the corner of his eye. Yuuya would be ecstatic if he managed to catch it and bring it to show to him. The other kids would probably like it too.

Just a bit more.

He could see it more clearly now.

Yuuto was already stretching out his arms to grab onto the fleeing animal, but in one short moment it switched its direction, suddenly turning to the right, and all his feet met was an emptiness. A sharp slope ended the path that he had been running on and all Yuuto could do was close his eyes and make a short panicked scream as his body tumbled down the edge of the hill that he had been on.

The fall wasn’t too long. Luckily, not too painful either, but once he opened his eyes and tried to stand up, Yuuto found that a sharp sting travelled up his left leg, leaving him unable to properly use it. A lot of small bruises and scratches littered his body as well. At least they didn’t hurt as much as his leg. He tried climbing up the slope, but the ever-present pain didn’t let him get far. He tried looking around for another path up, maybe he could at least crawl towards it until someone found him, but there was nothing similar to that as far as he could see.

He couldn’t recognize this part of the forest – he’d never gone this far. None of the kids had.

The day stretched as he tried to find a way to get back and as it did all Yuuto could do was crawl towards a small tree that was growing in an odd angle from the slope, making an alcove big enough for him to hide under. The sun was setting somewhere, but he couldn’t see it from bellow the thick foliage of the trees.

He was big enough – he wouldn’t cry. Not yet.

Someone from the town would surely find him and get him back home. He just needed to wait. That was all he could do now. That and ignore his growling stomach as it asked for food.

As the air chilled and the distant sounds of howling filled it, Yuuto huddled around himself, pulling his legs closer to his chest as he hugged them and rested his face on his knees. He had been staring at one tree right in front of him for a bit before he was suddenly startled by a rustle that came from somewhere far too close to him. His head snapped up to find the source – another kid sitting atop one of the branches of the tree and staring intently at him.

For a moment Yuuto was too shocked from seeing someone else there besides him and didn’t realize that the other kid, who seemed to be slightly older than him, had jumped down from his seat that had been at least three meters from the ground without any effort.

Human eyes usually didn’t glow yellow in the dim light, right?

As the other boy began walking towards him, Yuuto pushed back into the makeshift alcove as far as he could. He could feel his heart beginning to pump faster, but there was nowhere and no way for him to run. It didn’t help that the newcomer wasn’t saying anything, just silently walking and staring with those bright eyes.

Yuuto might have wanted to say something to him, maybe to at least try telling the other to go away, but his words were caught in his throat as the older boy kneeled beside him and gently touched his hurting leg. Yuuto stared as he did so and as the seconds ticked all that was done to him was a careful inspection of his leg.

He finally got the courage to look back at those glowing eyes. They didn’t seem as scary now.

Eventually, the other boy seemed content with what he had been doing and he nodded to himself, raising his eyes to meet Yuuto’s and before he knew it the darkening sky that had been behind the stranger suddenly got covered by a blanket of blackness. Yuuto’s own eyes widened as he stared at the dark wings that had sprung from the other’s back and before he knew it – he was being lifted up and held close to the boy’s front, steady arms gripping gently but securely.

Yuuto let out a startled gasp when he felt the two of them rise from the ground. The distance between it and them was growing quickly and soon they reached even the top of the trees, the older boy effortlessly finding a clearing big enough for his wings to pass through and for the first time in his life Yuuto got to see up close where these towering trees ended.

As he looked around, he saw the sun still setting further down where they were headed. He wanted to look at it better, but a sudden gust of some stronger wind made his eyes water and Yuuto buried his face in the other kid’s shirt to hide from it.

The trip wasn’t too long and soon as he got lowered to the ground, the stranger avoiding putting pressure on his bad leg, Yuuto found himself wanting for it to have lasted just a tad bit longer. “Thank you…” he said softly, still not entirely sure of what had just happened. He was given a small smile in return, finally a change in that expressionless serious face, and the wind once again ruffled his hair and clothes as the other boy fluttered his wings and quickly disappeared in the now dark sky, the feathers blending in completely with the similar colour.

As he looked at the spot where he last saw his helper, Yuuto heard some shouts getting closer to him. Soon, there were people running towards him and asking him various questions.

All Yuuto said was that he got lost in the forest and injured his leg.

* * *

 

His story was enough for the caretakers at the orphanage. The kids wanted to know if he had seen any monsters in the dark parts of the woods, but he told them that he hadn’t and that was that. Everyone left him pretty quickly, aside from a few adults who gave him some stern talks about wandering off by himself.

His leg hadn’t been broken, just sprained. It didn’t take long for it to heal up, though Yuuto did need to stay inside while it did. He didn’t mind that. Yuuya had come over to visit him as soon as he could and he was the only one whom Yuuto told the whole thing.

Yuuya seemed extremely interested while he was telling him everything, making small exclamations where it was appropriate and sitting on the edge of the chair as he listened, though by the end of it he looked slightly lost.

“I mean it sounds really cool and all, but is that really possible? Don’t these kinds of things only exist in myths and those books that they read to us before sleep?”

“I don’t think that I hit my head.” Yuuto frowned at him. “Besides, how else could I had gotten to the very edge of the forest with my leg like this?” He raised the aforementioned limb and wiggled his toes a bit.

“I know, I know.” Yuuya rubbed his head as he laughed lightly. “I’m just wondering that, if it was real, if there was any chance for us to meet him. I’d really want to see a person with wings.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see him again too.” To thank him properly. To ask his name. To ask why he helped him.

* * *

 

It was probably convenient that the caretakers never really seemed to notice him too much around the orphanage. It made sneaking out into the forest by himself that much easier. All he needed to do was come back before the sun set. No one ever followed him, the other kids also not being too alert about his presence. His closest friend had been Yuuya, who lived with his parents at the castle where they worked, so he wasn’t around the orphanage too often to begin with.

After the last time Yuuto had become more cautious, now checking where he was placing his feet and trying not to get too distracted by the various small critters that would pass somewhere near him. His new goal was to find something to prove that what had happened hadn’t just been a vivid dream.

A few years passed like this.

With that much time passed there would come days when Yuuto wasn’t sure about what he was doing anymore. He hadn’t seen the winged boy or any other mystical creature, just the regular ones you would expect to find in a large forest.

The only things that kept up his hope were the occasional dark feathers he would sometimes find. He had begun collecting them even though he was pretty sure that those were probably just ones dropped from ravens or some other black birds. That didn’t matter too much. For now he could pretend that they were special and as he carefully put them in his night drawer he thought that they looked pretty, especially when they caught the moonlight coming in from the window on clear nights.

He would occasionally find a few feathers that were of a similar dark hue, but these had a tint of purple on them. They would usually be littered around a small lake that was a bit further down the forest path and next to a formation of rocks from which you could jump into the clear water. Yuuto would go there from time to time, either to look for more of those feathers or to just relax if the day was a hotter one.

On one of those times he saw a girl kneeling on the other side of the lake, opposite from the forest path leading from the town but close to the rocks. From where he was standing he could make out that she was a similar age as him, but she didn’t look like anyone he had seen at the town. Granted, Yuuto didn’t spend much time there, so she could have most likely been someone like him just wandering around while her parents worked.

The girl had noticed him. She turned to look at him and made a pretty smile as she gave him a friendly wave but didn’t make any move to get closer, only getting up to stand in the same place she had been kneeling by the water. Yuuto tried to shout at her, ask if she wanted help to get back to the town, but she only laughed as large purple wings sprouted from behind her and she waved one last time before she took off.

Once Yuuto got to the other side of the lake all he found was a few more feathers and a piece of red cloth that looked like a scarf. He decided to take it, wrapping it around his arm as it was too hot to put it on his neck, and making a mental promise to give it back to the girl he had just seen. At least he could use this as a constant reminder that this was real.

He had really met people with wings.

* * *

 

The passing days didn’t seem to stretch as long after that. Even Yuuya joined him sometimes as they got older and his parents weren’t so strict about the forest anymore and the two of them would traverse the unknown woods, trying to climb up the trees to see if they could catch anything from higher up.

After that long Yuuto had become more accustomed to the layout of the forest, at least of the closest parts to the town. He hadn’t expected for the storm to come so quickly, he had thought that he had had more time, but he was too far from the town. He had to make a quick choice – try and follow the small path that he had found and see where it leads, or run back the long way to the orphanage.

Oh what the hell, he already knew what he would choose.

Maybe it was his instincts, luck or just lack of self-preservation, but the choice to follow the path had been the right one as he soon saw a clearing appear at the end of the narrow path and in that clearing stood a lone wooden house, seemingly abandoned but not falling apart. Yuuto quickly got inside it before the rain had begun pouring harder and boarded up a few of the holes in the walls with the things he found inside.

It was cold and not very comfortable inside the dusty building, but at least there was a roof above him and the walls stood firmly against the rain and the wind.

It was enough.

And it gave Yuuto an idea.

The following days, weeks and months were spent running back and forth from the town to the abandoned house. Yuuto found some odd-jobs around the town, finally getting to interact with the people he had kind of been avoiding, though not too much on purpose. The money he got he spent on whatever materials he thought he needed to fix up the house.

His other free time was spent on finding as many books as he could about woodwork, building, fixing furniture and anything he thought could be useful. Once Yuuya found out about the house on the outskirts of the town he tried to help him whenever he could. He even brought one of his friends from the palace – Yuzu - since she had shown some interest in this as well. Yuuto had known Yuzu before and didn’t mind her tagging along, but as their trio spent their time around the house that was slowly becoming more and more liveable, he found that she was also fun company just like Yuuya.

Since the girl had been practicing to become a court musician alongside Yuuya who was aiming for the entertainer’s part, she tried to teach Yuuto a few songs to pass his time when the two of them couldn’t join him. He wasn’t entirely sure about it, but once she teased him about no one being there to listen to him sing, he relented and tried his luck at it.

It wasn’t that bad.

He kind of liked it.

The songs helped him when the work on the house would become too monotonous and after a while he even began singing with Yuuya and Yuzu around too. The two furiously complimented him, telling him that if he wanted they could even get him to work at the palace with them, but Yuuto didn’t feel like it. Even the offer of a free living place and a more comfortable life didn’t sound too appealing once he thought about the creepy prince that lived there. He never felt completely right whenever he got to see him during town events and honestly, he had become attached to this place he had put in so much of his time into.

The two got bummed out a little at his refusal but didn’t take it to heart as they continued with their help for their friend. What they did decide behind his back was a surprise gift on his fifteenth birthday (or at least the day that Yuuya had proclaimed was Yuuto’s fifteenth birthday). A flustered Yuuto was presented with a large dark case, inside of which was a guitar that he carefully took out and looked at his friends with a baffled expression. They grinned back at him and Yuzu immediately took upon herself to teach him how to play it.

He caught on surprisingly quickly and Yuzu noted that he had a good ear for rhythm. Sometimes she would even bring one of her few instruments over, usually a lyre, and the two of them would put on a small show for Yuuya, who would in turn do some magic tricks for them.

When he was alone, Yuuto would sometimes take out his guitar outside, lean against one of the many trees and just play whatever he felt like at that time. He’d softly sing to whatever animals were listening somewhere nearby, but mostly just to himself.

Sometimes he would find a few dark feathers near him when he would finally stand up to take his leave.

* * *

 

The final touches around the house were finished a bit sooner than Yuuto had expected. He had been planning on wrapping everything up around his eighteenth birthday – the day when he would officially have to leave the orphanage – but he found that everything was just about done with a lot more time to spare.

He wasn’t sure about it, but he tried his luck at asking the caretakers if he could leave earlier to go live by himself. To his relief, they didn’t mind one bit. He had already shown that he could take care of himself and find jobs to get the money necessary for that and besides, he barely spent there any time either way. One of the older women joked that he was already like a ghost, just eating and sleeping there, and not even that sometimes. Yuuto just laughed politely at that and soon said his goodbyes to the few people he did interact somewhat.

Living by himself wasn’t too foreign to Yuuto in the end - he had already been doing something similar to that for quite some time. There was a well near the house that he could use for water, the lake wasn’t too far off as well. He had also planted a small garden some time ago and the rest what he needed he could get from the town.

The jobs he had done for money hadn’t been long-term ones, but he didn’t find much trouble with his few expenses whenever he did need them. Playing his guitar and singing at the local taverns was enough to get by and by this point he had learnt a lot of things to help him do that anyway. Jack of all trades Yuuya had once called him.

* * *

 

He’d sometimes leave a few traps around his house for when he didn’t feel like going into town to buy some meat.

It had been one of those times and Yuuto was lazily walking around the forest, checking to see if he had caught anything when he heard a few distinctly human shouts not too far away from him. He felt the ground rumble a bit from being hit with the horses’ hooves and he quickly hid from plain sight to check what was going on without being spotted himself. People usually didn’t wander into these parts without a particular reason.

He soon saw a group of people emerge from where he knew was one of the forest paths, all on horses and all clearly from the palace. It was mostly guards and military, from what Yuuto could tell, but once he saw who was at the front a cold shiver ran down his spine.

The prince was riding his horse with a fiendish look on his face and that really didn’t help Yuuto with his already iffy image of him. He commanded something to one of the archers who immediately steadied her bow towards the sky and shot without much hesitation. The group rejoiced as something heavy clearly hit the tree canopy and then thumped on the ground slightly further away from them, but from where he was standing Yuuto couldn’t see what it was. Were they just hunting animals?

He was about to turn around if that was the case, he wasn’t really interested in what the prince did for fun, but a few more shouts caught his attention. One of the people pointed back towards the sky and the archer shot once more, but from their reaction Yuuto figured that it wasn’t a successful hit. Suddenly, one of the guards drew his short sword and hurled it in the same direction, getting a whack on the head from the archer who didn’t seem pleased with that.

Yuuto quickly stepped back from the whole commotion – he definitely didn’t want to get involved in this. Another noise caught his attention though. It seemed to be coming from somewhere above him, a lot closer than where the group was. He looked at the numerous branches and squinted at whatever it was, but before he could really concentrate something big fell almost directly in front of him from them.

For a moment all he could see was just a bunch of dark feathers – that must have been some huge birds that the prince was hunting – but after a few seconds, amongst the pile of ruffled blackness, his eyes noticed a human figure.

A human figure that had wings and was definitely hurt.

And the shouts only got closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Local bird man keeps littering the forest because he can't say hello to his crush
> 
> Also there's a bit of art from my main bro [here](http://yaboybokuto.tumblr.com/post/163458019203/new-folder-titled-bs-sketches-when-the-health-bar) (last 4 panels)


	2. Don't open doors for strangers

He didn’t have any time to think, the group was preoccupied with whatever else they had shot down but it was just a matter of time until they went looking for their other target. Yuuto quickly kneeled down to the injured boy to check if he was at least breathing and once he found a pulse, he immediately hoisted him up on his back, trying his hardest to manoeuvre through the huge wings, and began heading back to his place as fast as he could while still being careful not to rock the injured person.

It didn’t seem that anyone from the hunters had noticed him and at this point Yuuto knew the woods pretty well, so he managed to reach his house without much trouble. Getting the winged boy inside of it was another thing entirely.

The wings had dragged on the ground as he had been walking but now, as Yuuto was trying to get through the doors, they bent and the feathers seemed to be everywhere all at once as he desperately tried not to touch too many things with them. He had no clue if it was painful for the person on his back but he was sure as hell that he didn’t want to find that out the hard way. Somehow he managed to reach his bedroom with only a few crashing sounds left behind him and the dark menace and with as much care as he could muster, he tried to place the other boy on his bed. The room wasn’t really big and the wings mostly flopped down on the floor while the stranger laid on his stomach. Yuuto turned his head gently so that he wouldn’t have his face smothered by the pillow and finally had some time to really look at his features.

There was already some blood beginning to dry over his face from a small wound on his forehead but from what Yuuto could see it didn’t seem too severe. He just hoped that the avian boy hadn’t gotten a concussion since that would mean bad news. As he inspected the wound and looked for any other injuries on the face, he came to the conclusion that this was most likely the same boy that had saved him so many years ago. His memory was already a bit foggy about that incident, but the colour of the wings and hair coupled with a few features he did remember made Yuuto pretty sure about that.

There didn’t seem to be any severe injuries on the boy’s body aside from some bruises caused by the fall, but as Yuuto went around carefully inspecting the wings, he found a piece of a broken arrow stuck in one of them. He was glad that he had gotten used to taking care of various injuries as his life hadn’t been the safest one, though an arrow wound was something a bit trickier.

He spent the rest of the dwindling day taking care of the injuries he found, though he did keep one eye and ear on whatever was happening outside. He was sure that the prince’s men would go looking for their escaped prey. Once evening came and Yuuto was sure that his new guest was still sleeping soundly, he decided to forgo it himself and keep an eye out for the rest of the night. Everything seemed quiet, but he knew that he shouldn’t let his guard down. Living alone had really spiked that sense for him.

* * *

 

As the morning came and Yuuto thought to check up on the stranger again, he heard the sound of hooves once more. Sure, he could have hoped that it was only some deer passing by, but he knew he would only be lying to himself. He didn’t even have any time to think of what he could do as a few knocks came from his door and all he was left with was to open it and pretend that nothing had happened.

A couple stood before him, both clad in the royal guard’s wear, though it seemed that one of them was an archer as her clothing was more flexible and a quiver of arrows was slung from her back. The other was clearly a knight, or at least one in training, as he looked Yuuto up and down while lightly taping on the sheath by his hips.

“Good morning,” the archer smiled at him as she spoke. “We weren’t sure if anyone lived here, but it’s nice to see that it’s someone like you.”

Yuuto might have taken the compliment if the circumstances had been anything but the ones he was currently in. He tried to keep his neutral expression on as he leaned on the doorframe, hoping that that would take off some pressure from his legs which might betray him with their slight tremble. “Hello.” He nodded at the two of them.

“Look, we’re here because we’re on orders to scout out the perimeter,” the knight spoke up. “We weren’t even expecting to find some people here, let alone a house.”

“What my friend here is trying to say is,” the archer nudged her partner with her elbow as her smile seemed a bit more forced, “due to some unfortunate circumstances the hunting trip that the prince had organized the previous day didn’t go all according to plan and one of the animals we had been tracking escaped after we had shot it. We are now looking for it, so if you have any information about it, that would help us immensely.”

“Rin, you don’t have to tell the guy everything.”

“What kind of animal?” Yuuto stifled a yawn. If he acted aloof maybe they wouldn’t invite themselves into his house?

“A huge bird,” the knight said as his eyes darted around.

“Haven’t really seen those around, but I think some of the birds like to gather around the rocks near the lake.” Just go away.

“Oh, thank you about that then.” The archer clapped her hands gently before looking at the knight. “We should go there, Yuugo.”

While she spoke, the guy had kneeled next to the house’s walls and picked up something from the ground. As he stood up with a dark feather between his fingers, Yuuto felt a cold heaviness thump down into his stomach. He was sure he had collected all of those.

“Ah, that’s probably from the ravens that nest on my roof,” he began, trying to keep his voice bored, but before he could continue with his lie, he felt a hand clap him on the shoulder.

“Yup, those buggers can really make a ruckus when you’re trying to sleep in,” a familiar voice chirped up next to him and with a slightly confused expression Yuuto watched as Yuuya walked out from his house. “Sup, Yuugo, Rin.” He gave the two a bright grin as they also looked at him with surprised faces.

“Yuuya?” the knight cocked his head, the feather forgotten in his hand.

Something seemed to click in the archer’s head as she suddenly made a small ‘o’ with her mouth. “Is this the friend you had told us about? The one who fixed up an abandoned house in the outskirts of town?”

“The one and only.” Yuuya swung his arm around Yuuto, dragging him a bit closer to himself. “If you’re looking for something interesting here then I’ll have to disappoint you, cause the only things that could count as that are Yuuto’s collection of cool pebbles and feathers.” He plucked the one from Yuugo’s hand and inspected it before the sun, making a serious face as he did. “Just as I thought – this will be a nice addition to it.”

“If you say so. Come on, let’s go check out the lake then,” Rin addressed the knight before turning to look back at them one last time. “I hope those ravens don’t bother you too much though. It can be pretty rough if you don’t get enough sleep.” She smiled sympathetically at what Yuuto guessed were his eye bags before taking her still obviously out of the loop partner by the arms and beginning to drag him to their horses.

“Bye, Yuuya!” he waved.

“See you two later at the palace!” Yuuya shouted as he and Yuuto watched them ride away.

“So,” Yuuto turned to look at his friend, “you know them.”

“Yeah, we bump into each other sometimes.”

“And you told them about me?”

“Of course! You’re my awesome friend.”

“Your awesome friend whose house you just broke into?” Yuuto raised one eyebrow as he tried to hide his smile.

“My awesome friend whom I just got out of some possible trouble.” Yuuya winked back at him. “Also you might need to check your windows better next time.”

“Will do,” Yuuto sighed before crossing his arms and looking at Yuuya more seriously. “But jokes aside, you really did get me out of a pinch there.”

As Yuuya looked at him quizzically, Yuuto led him to his bedroom and gently opened the doors as to not make too much noise. He put up his index finger to his lips to indicate for his friend to be quiet and watched as his eyes widened once he walked past him and saw the avian boy lying in his bed, the spread wings still taking up most of the space in the small room. Yuuto nodded as Yuuya quickly turned his head back from the sight to him and then at the winged person again.

Once the doors were quietly closed, they walked to the living room and Yuuya flopped down on a chair, looking like he was deep in thought. Yuuto stood near him and watched as a greyish blue cat jumped in from the window that Yuuya had most likely used and left wide open. He didn’t really care for small animals in his house - those came and went occasionally. The fluffy animal seemed to look him straight in the eye before it began lazily walking around, rubbing its body against some of the furniture before finally stopping by Yuuya’s feet. The boy didn’t seem to notice it as he looked up at Yuuto.

“So they’re actually real.”

“Pretty real.”

“Wow,” the redhead breathed out. “I didn’t really doubt you before, but now…”

“Kind of hard to do after seeing one up close, right?” Yuuto smirked at him.

“He looked injured though. Is he alright?” Yuuya stood up from his seat, brushing the cat aside as he did. He let out a low sound as he looked at it before turning his attention to his friend again. “Were Yuugo and Rin looking for him?”

“He is and they were, but they’re gone at the moment and I’ve patched him up as best as I could,” Yuuto explained as he shot one more glance at the cat who didn’t seem to care that Yuuya was ignoring it and had begun walking around his legs. “Did you… growl at it?”

“What?” Yuuya followed his eyes and once he saw the cat he nudged it lightly with his foot again. “Ah noooo, I was just clearing my throat, but this thing has been following me around for the past couple of days and for some reason I’m just feeling annoyed. It’s weird since I’m usually pretty good with the other cats and dogs.”

“Looks like you’ve got a fan.”

“I hope it’s because it saw one of my shows and not because it just smells something on me,” Yuuya laughed as he kneeled down and petted it a few times, the cat purring loudly at that. “Maybe I should give the little fellow a chance, but if we’re speaking of pets and the palace, Sora has told me some rumours this morning at practise. He heard that the prince has caught one that he’s keeping in the low for now, but he’s pretty sure it’s something big.”

Yuuto’s memory flashed to the first target that the hunters had shot down and a frown made its way on his face. “I think I might know what it is.”

“Another one of his kind?”

“Exactly.”

* * *

 

Yuuya didn’t stay too long after that, mainly just having come to check up how his friend had been doing, but he promised to keep him updated if any news came from the palace about the prince’s new pet. The grey cat shot Yuuto one more look as it sauntered out of his house, following Yuuya who jogged back to the town.

As Yuuto was changing the bandage around the avian boy’s head, he finally seemed to stir from his sleep. Yuuto took a few steps back to give him some space as he woke up, letting out a low groan and scrunching up his face. It didn’t take him long to notice the other person in the room and momentarily Yuuto saw his golden eyes widen before his face returned to its most likely default expression of slight annoyance.

“Hi,” he said as he put down the old bandages on his bedside table. “You probably shouldn’t move too much since you might hurt your wing more.”

“Where am I?” the stranger asked as he looked around the cramped space.

“My house. I brought you back since you looked like you needed to get away from the prince and his men who were hunting you.”

“Ruri!” He suddenly shot up from the bed by his arms as panic overtook his features.

“Woah there,” Yuuto put up his arms in front of him as he tried to calm the other down. “I just told you not to move.”

“There isn’t any fucking time for that, Yuuto! I need to help Ruri!” He grit his teeth as he spoke and his wings seemed to spread even more, the feathers increasing in their volume.

Yuuto stopped for a second from hearing his name, which he was sure he hadn’t given, but quickly forgot that as he pursed his lips and narrowed down his eyes. “There’s nothing you can do if you flip out now. Just lay back down and let me explain.” He took hold of the other’s shoulders to indicate that he wasn’t to be taken lightly and pushed them back into the bed, getting an ‘umph’ sound in return from the agitated avian. “I’m here to help you but I don’t want my house trashed and you lying on the ground five meters from my house because you forgot that one of your wings isn’t working properly at the moment.”

That seemed to calm the other at least slightly as he stopped trying to get out of the bed, relaxed under Yuuto’s grip and just turned to sit on the bed instead once the shorter boy let go of him. He gave Yuuto an intense look as he frowned. “Then tell me what happened.”

Yuuto sighed as he sat down on the only chair that was in that room, resting his arms on its back as he straddled it. He told the other what he had seen and how he brought him back and everything he had heard from Yuuya about the pet that was being held in the palace right now. The avian boy sneered as he said the word ‘pet’ but didn’t interrupt, letting Yuuto finish talking.

“So if that is her, then she’s probably safe, just in captivity. My friend will tell us if he finds anything out.”

“Either way we need to get her out of there,” it looked like it took a lot of energy for the winged boy just to stay still on the bed as he spoke. “I saw her get shot and I know that she’s injured. Who knows what else they will do to her there?!”

Yuuto desperately wanted not to come off as insensitive in this moment. It was painfully clear to him that the one before him would not think twice about his own safety or life if it meant saving the other avian girl, but he needed them not to rush into anything. “I know that I can’t say that I understand you.” After all, he had been a loner for most of his life and no one he knew had ever gotten into any real danger. “But please, you need to listen to me. We can’t just waltz into the palace like it was nothing. They are still looking for you and you’re injured. If we want to help your friend-”

“Sister.”

“-sister, sorry,” Yuuto gave a small smile as he saw the other’s face soften when he said the word, “then first and foremost you have to get better. That will take time and while it does we can wait for my friend to come visit again and tell us anything he’d find out about what’s happening in the palace. Does that sound okay for you?”

The other boy stayed silent for a few moments as he downcast his eyes. He exhaled and met Yuuto’s, nodding slightly. “Alright.”

At least he didn’t need to argue more.

With Yuuto’s permission, the avian checked his wing and head himself, muttering quietly to himself as he prodded the bandages. After a few minutes he seemed content and he addressed the other again, “If it’s better not to waste any time, then I need to get back home. I have some stuff that will help me heal faster and then we can go after Ruri.”

“And where is that?”

“The mountains.”

“Those are at least a few days away by foot.” Yuuto had never been there himself, but he could roughly estimate.

“I can get there quicker, I don’t need to…” the other quieted down as he seemed to realise what he was saying.

“Yeah, you kinda do. Remember?” He poked the injured wing lightly. “I don’t think you’ll be able to fly when there’s been half of an arrow stuck here.”

The other cursed under his breath and groaned. “Fine, then I’ll walk.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you go by yourself after you fell from the sky just yesterday.”

“Then _we_ will walk.” He didn’t look at Yuuto as he said that, but his feathers seemed to take up more space once again as they had a few times already while he had been getting worked up about his sister.

Yuuto didn’t say anything as he watched the other take one of his wings in his hands and begin to slowly brush his fingers through it. The room had quieted down and he could finally hear the mix of background noises coming in from the woods surrounding his little house. The day had been a warm one and the breeze coming in from the window he had opened brought a calmness with it. He didn’t want to intrude anymore. He was sure the guy wanted some time by himself to think everything through and even after both having helped the other out, they were still basically strangers. He turned to leave, it was time to make something to eat anyway, but before he could fully get out of the room and close the door he heard one last thing.

“It’s Shun, by the way.”

Yuuto smiled as he let the door click closed.

* * *

 

There wasn’t anything Yuuto could say to get Shun from going out the next day, so in the end he just packed his bag, looked over his guest and his back, decided that he wouldn’t be able to carry anything comfortably like that, and put some extra stuff inside his own. He left a note saying that he would be back in a few days, he was sure Yuuya would find a way to get into his house if he wanted to. He watched a small bluebird fly by them as they walked, curious why it had gotten so close but figuring that it was probably because of the winged boy walking a few steps ahead of him.

Shun had his healthy wing slightly raised up so that it wouldn’t touch the ground as he walked, but it seemed that it took too much effort to do that with the other one and so it just dragged behind him. They hadn’t been talking much and Yuuto didn’t know what to say without coming off as prying too much, so after a while of silent walking he did what he usually did when he was alone in the forest.

He sang.

It was mostly just a hum at first that only changed into a soft melody that didn’t carry far, but that was enough for him. From what he could see, Shun’s shoulders relaxed a bit and so he continued with his song.

“Your voice,” he heard the other speak up once he had finished one of the melodies, “it’s… nice. Ruri and I would sometimes listen to you. She really liked it.”

So he did have an audience after all. “Thanks,” he said lamely, not really sure how he should follow that up. Guess the rustling he would hear occasionally from the trees up above hadn’t just been the animals.

“It’s how I knew your name. Sorry if that had come out of nowhere, but we would sometimes overhear you and your friends.”

“Well at least I now know yours too. But you only ever mentioned yourself and your sister.” Yuuto paused a bit before the next part. “Are there not more of you?”

“Hell if I know.” Shun shrugged, the distance between them had disappeared somewhere past the road. “Ruri’s been the only one by my side as long as I can remember and I took care of her when she was little. Maybe there’s more, but I haven’t met any. They could have fled the place and somehow left us behind, but I can’t blame them if the royalty here hunts us for fun.”

“The prince is too young to have done that, but I wouldn’t put it past the others there,” Yuuto agreed. “They all put off an uncomfortable air around themselves and Yuuya has said that not everyone at the palace is completely loyal. Who could blame them? I’m just glad that we haven’t gone into any wars lately, but that might just be a matter of time.”

“If I see those fuckers personally, they won’t need to go into any.” Shun squeezed his fists as he spoke, tight enough that Yuuto knew his nails were digging sharply into the flesh. He figured that it was probably not the best time to tell him that if they were to go into the palace to save Ruri, then they would definitely try to avoid as many people as possible. Especially the royal family.

For now he could let Shun dream, though.

* * *

 

As he had thought, it took them several days to reach the start of the mountain range. It had been a while since Yuuto had camped outside, but at least it wasn’t too uncomfortable and it had been a warm summer so far. He had offered Shun a sleeping bag, but the other had declined before they had even left for their trip and Yuuto watched him wrap his wings around himself like a makeshift blanket, still not entirely sure how that was more comfortable, but choosing not to question it. He had found that he was surprisingly okay with a lot of things and how they were. Maybe it was the fact that he had been convinced since his childhood that mythical creatures really did exist, but who really knew.

Climbing up the mountains was a lot more difficult than the simple walk through the forest, especially with Shun still being kind of injured, but the avian didn’t seem to care and Yuuto just followed him, helping occasionally when he saw that it was necessary but the other wouldn’t ask for it. There had been a few paths along the rocky side, so they did have a few breathers, Shun stretching out and flapping his wings aimlessly. Yuuto drinking water and watching him do so.

They reached the place Shun called ‘home’ near the evening and Yuuto walked in slowly, looking around the cave as he did. He wasn’t sure if he would call it that, but he wasn’t really the one to say anything. It was spacious, he could give it that, but the walls were just barren rock. He did, however, see some signs that someone lived there as Shun immediately headed further down the dark cave. The older boy ran his hand along one of the wall and a few lights appeared interspersedly, blinking into existence seemingly out of nowhere. As Yuuto got closer, he saw that they were some kind of different rock that was part of the wall as well, but he had never heard of rocks glowing like coloured lamps. The light cast from them showed him a few things like clothing and stuff that looked like furniture, but he didn’t feel right just gaping at everything like in a zoo.

He followed where Shun had gone and saw the other at the very back, fidgeting with a small box. He finally got it open and took a few of the colourful rocks that looked similar to those on the wall. He then picked up another box and took some herbs from it, ones that Yuuto was pretty sure he hadn’t seen in his books or around the place where he lived, and began crushing them with the rocks in a bowl he had set in front of himself.

“Are you making medicine?” Yuuto asked.

“Something like that. Not sure if you can call it medicine but it’s just something that Ruri and I have known all our lives. Maybe it’s some sort of instinct, but all we know is that it helps us,” the other replied somewhat distantly, mostly concentrated with grinding the small plants.

Yuuto didn’t bother him as Shun took off his bandages and dipped his fingers into the dark goo he had made before gently spreading it over his wound on the wing. Well, at least as much as he could reach. It wasn’t in the most comfortable place, more close to his back. Yuuto quietly kneeled down and scooped some of the green stuff onto his fingers as well, it didn’t have a very strong smell and he still couldn’t place what it was.

“You don’t need to-”

“I’ve been taking care of you for the past few days. Let me do it till the end,” Yuuto murmured, somehow feeling like the place demanded a more hushed tone of voice. He tried to press his fingers softly onto the injured wing and felt Shun tense the muscles there. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” was the clear lie he got.

“How about now?” he asked as he prodded a bit harder and got a groan in return this time. “Sorry, sorry,” he laughed before getting up and circling Shun to get in front of him. “Here, let me help you with your head too.”

Shun’s eyes glowed brighter in the dim light, he probably saw better with them than Yuuto did, as he looked at the other boy. He squinted a bit and Yuuto gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry, this one isn’t as deep, looks more like blunt trauma.”

“It’s from a sword or something,” Shun said as he closed his eyes and let Yuuto take off the bandages around his forehead.

“Swords don’t leave these kinds of wounds.”

“Well some fucker just flung it at me like a throwing knife or something.” A few creases appeared on the avian’s forehead as he frowned.

“Stop doing that,” Yuuto scolded. “You’ll make it bleed again.” Shun just groaned at that before calming down and letting the other boy treat his injury.

* * *

 

They stayed the night in Shun’s home and a big part of the following day as well, but as evening came again, Shun decided that he was done with waiting and that it was about time for them to go back. He gave the box with the rocks to Yuuto, telling him that they could use these later. Yuuto insisted that he couldn’t have healed up that fast, magic herbs or not, but the other didn’t listen too much before walking out of the cave onto the edge outside and finally fully spreading out his wings.

Yuuto had to admit – they looked gorgeous. Similar to how he had remembered, they took up most of his view with their dark colour, but now they were even bigger than the ones in his childhood memory. Before he could say anything, though, Shun flapped them a few times and took off, leaving him alone by the entrance.

There wasn’t much he could do besides just gather his things and begin the climb down. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it safely once the sun completely set, but he didn’t want to let Shun just go away by himself.

He hadn’t climbed a lot before he heard the flap of those giant wings once more.

“So you’re not leaving me by myself.”

“Let go,” Shun said simply as if he hadn’t just told Yuuto to basically fall down to his death.

“I probably didn’t hear that well.” He turned his head as much as he could to look at the other. “You want me to what?”

“Let go,” Shun repeated, the wind from his wings ruffling up Yuuto’s hair. “I’ll catch you and it will be quicker for us to get back this way.”

“Could have told me that sooner. Like when I was still standing on the edge.”

Even while in motion Yuuto could have sworn he saw the dark feathers fluff out as the other boy turned his head to avoid eye contact with him.

“I got a bit… carried away.”

“Alright,” he breathed. “But if you don’t catch me-”

“I will.”

And with that Yuuto loosened his grip of the rocks and for a moment he felt a dip in his stomach, a momentary sense of weightlessness before there were arms around his shoulders and legs. Shun held onto him strongly and everything felt just like that time before.

Yuuto managed to get his bag from around his back and held onto it at his stomach, letting Shun fix his grip on him. Just like before, he felt the wind over his face and saw the sun set in the horizon, colouring the sky in pinks and oranges as they travelled across the tops of the towering trees. This time, however, he didn’t hide his face in Shun’s shirt and the same red scarf over his neck that was tied around Yuuto’s arm. He let the wind blow his hair out of his face and watched the lowering sun.

Who knew when he would get an opportunity like this again.

* * *

 

They reached his house once the night had fallen and Yuuto saw that even though he pretended that he was fine, Shun was clearly exhausted.

“Stay in my bed again, I’ll crash in the living room.” He saw that the other was about to protest but he just put up one arm. “I don’t want to hear about it. Let’s just go to sleep.”

Shun reluctantly went into his room and Yuuto made a space for himself by the fireplace. He had never thought of investing in two beds, but now he wasn’t so sure about that.

Even though he had managed to fall asleep pretty soundly, sometime in the middle of the night Yuuto woke up from some distant sounds of rustling. Deciding to see if Shun was alright – he probably strained his wing, that idiot – he knocked on his bedroom door. After hearing no reply, he gently opened it up and found the room completely empty and the window open wide.

“Why does no one use the doors like normal people?” he groaned to himself as he walked outside and began looking around. With every passing moment a sense of panic slowly built up inside of him, making his mind run a mile as he tried to think up of where the other had gone and if he had really risked going alone to the palace.

As he looked around, a small form of an animal flickered from the corner of his eye. Yuuto turned to look at it and saw a cat standing near his house. Even in the dim moonlight he was fairly sure it was the same one that had been following Yuuya, but he had watched it leave with him, so what was it doing here now?

The cat seemed to be waiting for him to notice it since once he did, it lazily turned around, its tail swishing in a hypnotizing wave, and jumped from the few things he had placed by his house, like the firewood shed and the ladder. It travelled up to his roof and Yuuto followed it with his eyes as it did. The grey animal stopped once it got on the edge of it, sat down and began washing its face with one of its paws. Yuuto didn’t really get what had just happened and was about to turn back to most likely go into the forest and shout around like a lunatic, but then he saw another figure on the roof.

Shun was sitting on a further part of it, his face turned up to the sky and his attention somewhere far off. Yuuto wanted to call out to him, ask what he was doing, but as he was about to do so he decided against it. He figured he probably knew the answer already and so he turned back to head inside his house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just in - Russian blues can help you solve all of your problems
> 
> [Some more art ](http://yurka-on-ice.tumblr.com/post/164020570437/since-yaboybokuto-doesnt-want-to-do-it-ill-put)


	3. Ladies, gentelmen and birds

Yuuto was woken up by loud persistent knocking on the door.

He groaned as he rose from his spot on the rug and felt his body protest at that. He definitely needed to invest in two beds. Even though he had slept pretty soundly he didn’t feel too rested, but the nagging sound wasn’t helping with that so he dragged his feet to the door as he tried to run his hands through his complete mess of hair.

He was greeted by two familiar faces as he stifled a yawn.

“Hi there,” the friendly archer piped up.

“Don’t tell me you’re still looking for that bird,” Yuuto immediately put up his nonchalant façade again.

“Nah, that’s a lost cause,” the knight joined in. “The bastard probably managed to get to the mountains or something. No way we could follow that far.”

“What Yuugo is trying to say is that we’re on a different mission here today.” Rin, if Yuuto remembered correctly, opened a small bag by her waist and took out a purple envelope. She extended it towards Yuuto with a small bow. “We have been royally instructed to deliver this to you. The King is soon to throw a party for a few honoured guests from our neighbouring kingdom and the prince has given us a few names to visit and personally give these out to.”

Yuuto took the coloured paper and flipped it a few times. It was sealed with the royal family’s coat of arms in a dark crimson wax. He looked at it wearily and then turned his eyes back to his visitors.

“How does the prince know me?”

“He probably doesn’t,” the knight answered, looking slightly bored (or annoyed?). “He let a few of the castle workers choose who they wanted to invite and then just gave us a list.”

“We think that Yuuya put you down since it’s obvious the prince likes his shows,” the girl added with a wink. “He clearly got to choose some personal calls.”

That made Yuuto relax a bit as he loosened his hold on the envelope, not having realized that he had been crumpling it. “Thank you then.”

As he was planning to wrap this up and say his goodbyes to the two before they saw something they didn’t need to he heard the familiar crack of his bedroom door opening. Yuuto mentally slapped himself on the forehead.

Please let Shun realise that he’s talking to someone and that he shouldn’t show himself.

Please.

“Who’s at the door?”

Yuuto wondered if the castle’s prison had comfortable bedding.

“Just a few _royal guards_ ,” he hissed the last words, hoping that Shun would get the hint and go back.

Maybe he had used up all of his luck the last time Rin and Yuugo had come over or maybe Shun just really didn’t care what happened to him or Yuuto because now he only heard a few heavy steps on the floor before he felt the other boy stand next to him by the door, leaning on his elbow on the doorframe as he put his arm above his head.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. We didn’t know there was someone else here too.” Rin momentarily froze up and Yuuto felt like mimicking her. It was only seconds before they saw the wings and then he could say goodbye to his somewhat peaceful life in the forest.

And then nothing happened.

Yuuto wanted to turn around and see why no one was freaking out, but he felt like that would look too out of place, so he just stayed put.

“We can probably invite him too, right?” Yuugo looked Shun up and down before squinting slightly. Yuuto didn’t particularly like his look as the knight seemed to be trying to remember something.

“I think so, it would be rude not to. If anything, you can just tell the guards by the entrance that Rin sent you and they should let both of you in.” The girl put up one of her hands to her cheek as she looked slightly flustered. “We’re terribly sorry, I had honestly figured you lived here by yourself from what Yuuya had told me.”

Shun didn’t say anything as it appeared that he was having a staring contest with Yuugo, so Yuuto joined in on his behalf. “He’s staying here from town for a while. He was just asleep the last time you came.”

“Doesn’t the prince have messengers for these kinds of errands?” Shun asked, breaking eye contact with the knight as he picked up the invitation from Yuuto’s hand.

“Of course he does, but no one has any clue where you live except for us,” Yuugo answered, seemingly proud of this fact as he puffed out his chest lightly and flashed a smile. That bout of friendliness went away quickly though, as he put both of his hands on his hips and leaned forward, cocking his head to the side and narrowing his eyes at Shun again. “You look familiar, though. Where did you say you were from?”

Yuuto chanced a momentary glance at the avian and saw a cold look in his eyes. He could have sworn they would have been glowing that golden hue he had gotten used to seeing in the dark, but in the morning light his eyes only seemed to be reflecting the sun.

“You probably just saw him in the marketplace or something.” Rin gave a dismissive wave.

“Or something,” Yuuto heard Shun hiss through his grit teeth and that was his cue to shove the other slightly as he took hold of the door with a forced smile on his face.

“Well, I’ll be sure to think about this and thanks for the invite, I guess. We have some stuff to do, so if you wouldn’t mind…” he tried to nudge Shun away from the door with his leg as he spoke distractedly.

“Ah, yes. We should also get going.” Rin locked her arm with Yuugo’s and tugged him towards their horses. “I hope to see you two at the party. I heard there’s going to be a lot of entertainment.” She smiled before finally starting to walk away. Yuugo looked like he still wanted to say something, but the archer’s strength must had been enough for him to just follow in tow, dragged by his elbow.

Yuuto slammed the door shut when he couldn’t see the horses anymore and pressed his back to it, sliding slowly to the floor.

“That was the guy who threw a sword at me.”

“No shit, and they were looking for you a few days ago,” Yuuto snapped back, feeling the frustration from Shun’s recklessness rush back to him. “Why the hell did you just strut over here when I told you that I was talking to _royal guards_?”

“Because whoever was hunting me and Ruri couldn’t have gotten a good look at us from the ground and I wanted to see if you needed any help.” Shun was looking at him intensely and Yuuto just ran a hand through his hair again as he closed his eyes sighed.

He looked back at the other from his spot on the floor and something finally clicked to him, a reason why nobody had been freaking out when they saw Shun come over.

There were no wings on his back.

The avian now just looked like a normal guy, who maybe was a bit taller than the average person and whose eyes looked slightly too bright in the dimmer lightning inside the house, but other than that there was nothing off about him.

“Where did your wings go?” Yuuto asked lamely a he continued to stare.

Shun blinked at him before turning his head to look at his back. “I hid them?” His answer sounded more like a question as he turned back to look at Yuuto. “Wasn’t I supposed to do that?”

“You can do that?” The other boy finally rose from the floor and circled Shun. His shirt still had a huge hole on its back where the wings used to come out, but now there was only skin and a lot of intricate dark markings all over it. He didn’t really think much as he put his palm where he was sure a wing should had sprouted from, but there wasn’t even a bump on the smooth surface.

“Uhh, yeah…” Shun’s reply sounded more quiet than usual. “I just couldn’t do it before because it was injured, but I did hide them yesterday when we got back. I think you just didn’t notice.”

Yuuto pulled back his hand and tried to think back to the previous night, but he couldn’t remember if he had seen anything. He had just waved Shun off to his bedroom and conked out by the fireplace. “So you mean you don’t take up the whole room and bed when you sleep now?” was all he asked.

“No, that’s why I tried to tell you-”

“Then it will make things a bit easier,” Yuuto said as he massaged his shoulder. “Even if I’m young, the floor isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.” He walked back over in front of the other, seeing that Shun looked slightly distracted by something. He vaguely gestured towards his back as he spoke, “So you said you couldn’t hide them before. Why?”

“It still takes concentration to do it and we can’t if one or both of the wings are injured or if we’re having more intense emotions than usual. It can get annoying if you’re having nightmares, but at least it usually wakes you up.”

“Alright, you’ll have to tell me more, but let’s do it over breakfast.” Yuuto tried to give a reassuring smile to show that he wasn’t too pissed about the whole morning ordeal and it looked like it was more than enough as the other followed him into the kitchen.

Sometime after they ate and Yuuto drilled some more info from Shun about the whole avian lifestyle and whatnot, Yuuya came over to visit once more. He greeted them both as he pranced through the door, a small bluebird flying inside the house right after him. He didn’t pay much attention to it as he sat down and asked how the whole visit back home went.

At one point the bird landed on Yuuya’s head and the boy didn’t react in the slightest, so Yuuto had to interrupt himself. “Yuuya,” he patted his own head and just to make sure that he wasn’t going crazy, looked at Shun for confirmation. The taller boy eyed the bluebird quizzically while it stared right back at him.

“This guy?” Yuuya pointed to the top of his hair. “The cat went away somewhere, though I still see it sometimes, but for the last few days this little fellow has been circling around me. I even found some sticks and feathers on my windowsill, but I got so used to it that I don’t even notice it now.”

“I think it’s making a nest inside your hair,” Shun said in a deadpan voice.

“That can’t be sanitary.” Yuuto made a slightly disgusted face.

“I mean it didn’t bring sticks inside of my hair, it just sometimes sits there.” Yuuya pouted as he poked the bird a few times. It chirped and flew to relocate on his shoulder. “But anyway, who cares about that.” The bird pecked him a few times in the ear. “Ow, stop that.” He bared his teeth while the animal just turned around to put its tail to his face. Yuuya scoffed, but turned his attention back to the other two. “So Yuugo and Rin visited again? I wasn’t sure if I should had mentioned you when I got the offer to invite some people, but I figured you would want to visit the palace by yourself without doing any unnecessary sneaking. I heard from Sora that some royalty from the neighbouring kingdom will come to visit and we’re already starting to get ready for that. My best guess is that if the King and the prince want to show off, they will most likely bring out the main event as the last attraction of the night.”

“But you don’t know if it’s Ruri,” Yuuto added.

“Ruri?” Yuuya asked as the bird gave a two note song on his shoulder.

“My sister,” Shun gave a curt answer. It was clear to Yuuto that he was holding himself back from going off again, but it seemed to be working for now.

“Right, no. No one has really seen what the prince caught except for a few people and they won’t say anything. Sora’s being coy about what he knows, but I’ll try getting something out of him. He always knows the latest gossip around there.”

“Then our main goal is to go and see for ourselves,” Yuuto concluded. “If everything goes well and we do confirm that it’s her-”

“It is.”

“Then we’ll see if we can do anything then and there.” Yuuto didn’t feel like commenting on Shun’s sureness.

“Alright, I’ll try to help as best as I can, though I’m not too sure if I’ll have enough time to come visit again until the party itself. The palace already seemed to start getting hectic once I left today and I might be busy rehearsing with Sora, but if anything really big comes up I’ll manage to find a way to get to you guys.” Yuuya gave a thumbs up as he flashed a big smile and the bird did a small dance next to his face. “I might try asking a few other people to help too, but only those whom I know I can trust. I’m sure Yuzu wouldn’t mind, but Yuugo and Rin might not be the best idea since they do work pretty closely to the prince.”

Yuuto shook his head. “I don’t think so either.”

“Definitely not.”

They chatted some more, though it was mostly just Yuuto and Yuuya while Shun seemed to be brooding in his seat, before Yuuya eventually got up, saying that it was probably about time for him to head back and talk to Sora about their programme. During the time that they had talked the bird had flown off somewhere, but as they were wrapping things up, it returned with a small blue feather inside its beak. It put it on Yuuya’s folded arms and made its way back to his hair, sitting comfortably on it as it puffed its small chest.

Yuuto watched as his friend waved goodbye and walked back on the forest road with his hands tucked in his front pants’ pockets and whistling some melody. The bluebird chirped in return as it flew next to him, occasionally circling him. One note that Yuuya whistled didn’t seem to sit well with it and Yuuto saw the small animal peck a bit at his head, pulling a few strands of hair as it did so. Yuuya waved his arms angrily at it, seemingly starting to argue with the animal, and Yuuto just shook his head as he closed the door.

* * *

 

A few days passed without anything really happening. There was still time until the party and they didn’t really have much to do until then. Yuuto had made his way back to his bed, thanking his past self that he had gotten a bigger one so that two people were comfortable enough sleeping on it together. He had still woken up a couple of times during the night to see that Shun was gone again, but the other boy would always be back inside by morning when Yuuto would wake up first and go around his business, waiting for him to rise too.

Since neither of them had any fancy clothes that were sure to be needed during such an occasion, Yuuto settled on a day when they would go to town. He looked through his savings and mumbled to himself when he saw that it would clearly not be enough for two tailor suits. Shun offered to help at that, cryptically saying that he would take care of everything. Yuuto didn’t really have enough space to argue and so the two of them headed down the forest path one slightly chilly day.

The wind was good excuse to bundle Shun in more clothing, hiding his bare back and the markings on it. His usual shirt was way too revealing for a stroll into the busy parts of the town and Yuuto had made him do an errand back to his place to get some more ‘warmer’ clothing. Luckily, Shun said that he and Ruri had visited the marketplace several times before, so he did at least know that he needed to clothe himself properly for that.

There were still as many people as always, hustling around the stalls and going in and out of the various small shops scattered all along the busy street. Yuuto still wasn’t sure where they were going, but Shun seemed to know the way as he shoved past some passer-by’s and made his way easily with his long legs. Yuuto followed by manoeuvring through the sea of people and ducking whenever he saw an elbow or basket come his way.

They finally stopped at one of the family-owned shops and Shun walked in there with the small chime of the doorbell accompanying him. Yuuto had never been to this one, but from the numerous jewellery set all around the moderately spacious shop, he could easily figure where they were.

“Welcome,” a girl greeted them by the counter, though her attention seemed to be focused on something else as she did. Yuuto could only see a tuft of dark hair bobbing up and down as she tinkered with something the glass casings surrounding her obscured from his view.

Shun made a beeline to her, but the other boy didn’t have such a clear goal as him, so he casually walked around, inspecting some of the things he saw on display. He had never really had enough money to spare to come to these kinds of places, but some trinkets did catch his eye now.

“We need to exchange some things,” Shun said as he put down the small box he had brought from the mountains.

The girl finally raised her head and looked at him. “And hello to you too, Shun.” She glanced at Yuuto and then around the shop before her eyes landed on the taller boy. “Where’s Ruri?”

“She couldn’t make it today, so it’s just me and him,” Yuuto answered from the table with the silver jewellery.

“We’re in a hurry, so could you just take these as always?” Shun opened the box and took out a few of the crystal rocks.

“Sure, sure. Anything for our loyal customer. Or should I say provider?” the girl spoke in a bored tone as she fiddled with the rocks. “Sorry dad’s not here today, but I’m sure it doesn’t matter. I can give you the usual price unless you want me to inspect these closer.”

“I don’t have time for that, just give me the usual.”

The girl clicked her tongue and before Yuuto knew it, Shun was already heading out.

“Ruri’s easier to get along with, but he’s cool too I guess. When he’s not being a dick, that is.” The jeweller was already back to whatever she had been doing before they had come in, but Yuuto knew that she was talking to him. “Say hi to her from me.”

“Okay…”

“Masumi.”

“Got it.” Yuuto gave one last look as he opened the door, the chime signalling his leave, but Masumi didn’t give him any more attention.

Shun was waiting around outside and as he saw Yuuto leave, he immediately walked up next to him. “Where now?”

“You know the party isn’t going to come sooner if you keep rushing everywhere, right?” Yuuto tried to hide his smile as the other kept stepping in one spot. He took his hand and tugged him towards the busy street again. “I know where to go, but you might lose me, so this will be safer.”

That seemed to shut, or perhaps calm the other, as they began walking.

Getting measured for a suit wasn’t the most exciting or comfortable thing, but Shun’s hesitancy to let the tailor touch his back was at least entertaining enough to alleviate that for Yuuto. He hadn’t realised that the other was so touchy about that since he didn’t seem to have any problems when Yuuto had gone around poking at it, but now he watched an exasperated tailor try and convince him that he wouldn’t do anything to his back.

They left with Shun paying half of the price and getting a time when to come back to pick up the finished thing. Yuuto decided to treat him at the tavern where he would occasionally play and sing, so the workers there asked him who his new friend was and when he would return for another show. All in all, it was kind of tiring, but he figured he needed some human interaction from time to time as the two of them headed back to his place after they had eaten. Shun hadn’t talked much, but to Yuuto it seemed like he just didn’t really know how to as he stared with a blank expression at the people who tried to get him to join the conversation.

Maybe it didn’t help that Shun’s blank expression looked like he was annoyed at everything.

* * *

 

Yuuto woke up that night with an empty bed once again. He thought for a few moments if he should just let it go and go back to sleep like he had done before, but something nagged at him to do otherwise.

He put on a jacket and his shoes before going out into the cold night. As he had figured, Shun was atop the roof and Yuuto made sure the ladder was propped properly before carefully making his way to where the other was sitting. The roof’s slope wasn’t steep, but he still didn’t feel like risking falling down from it and cracking a bone or two.

Shun didn’t say anything as he got closer to him, so Yuuto also stayed silent as he sat down next to him and bundled up inside his jacket more. He looked up, same as where the other was looking, at the vast inky sky above. It wasn’t as obstructed by the trees from the rooftop, so Yuuto could look at the constellations that he couldn’t place exactly, but was sure had read about in a few of the books back at the orphanage.

Some time passed like that, with neither of them breaking the silence until, “Ruri and I would do this a lot.” Shun’s voice sounded rough, but also surprisingly quiet. “She liked to guess how long it would take for us to reach at least one of these.” Yuuto turned his head to see him reach out with one of his arms to the sky and then make a fist as if he was trying to catch something. “Hypothetically, of course. We both knew that it’s not possible. But it was just interesting to think about.”

“So now this reminds you of those times?”

“In a way.”

“We’ll get her back, I’ll make sure of it.” Even though Yuuto had never really properly met her, he felt like he needed to help this girl no matter what. The only real reminder of her he had was the red scarf still wrapped around his arm that he now tugged at gently.

“I’ll do the same,” Shun replied simply. He was a lot calmer at night, but his eyes told Yuuto enough – Shun would go to hell and back for his sister and seeing how everything was going, Yuuto would follow in tow without much complaining and maybe some leading of his own.

The night slowly carried on with both of them just talking. Shun told how he and Ruri had always been by themselves and had never found any trace of any other avians, but were sure that some were out there somewhere. Yuuto told his own part of spending most of his childhood in the forest looking for who he now knew was Shun, or anyone else like him. The other boy had turned away at that, slightly crouching in his spot as if he was trying to hide himself. Yuuto didn’t know if he needed to comment on the irony of that.

He found that he didn’t need to as the dark wings grew out of Shun’s back, appearing almost too quickly to properly comprehend and fluttering a few times as the other boy hugged his knees to himself. Yuuto stared as the wing closer to him lowered on his shoulders like a makeshift blanket while the other bent around Shun’s side.

“The night’s cold,” Shun said into his folded arms.

“I guess it is.” Yuuto smiled as he loosened his grip on his jacket and gently placed a hand on the mass of feathers.

* * *

 

The suit wasn’t the most comfortable thing to wear as Yuuto had become used to looser clothing, but it seemed even more restricting to Shun as the other kept picking at his collar and mumbling how he wanted his scarf back. Yuuto had to help him with his tie and it was becoming clear that he would need to keep doing that throughout the evening as it already looked loose and they hadn’t even reached the palace yet.

There were multiple expensive looking chariots and groups of people gathered by the large entrance, mulling around as they chatted with each other and waited to be let through. Yuuto couldn’t help but feel out of place, but if he wanted everything to go smoothly he needed to pretend like he and Shun were supposed to be there to only enjoy the night and nothing else.

He gave the letter that had been inside of the purple envelope to the guards at the gate and the men didn’t even bother really reading through it, just giving it a quick glance and nodding to let the two of them pass. Yuuto had heard that some people weren’t too hot about the royal family and he figured this was one of those instances.

Yuuto had always just seen the palace from far away and even then he always felt uneasy about it. Now that he was inside of it he wasn’t sure what to think. The place was the most extravagant thing he had ever seen – the ceiling was way too far up for him to comfortably look at and the giant crystal chandelier that hung from it looked like it could fall any moment from the sheer size of it. People of all ages kept walking by, eating and drinking whatever fancy food was offered to them by the buzzing staff.

From the sea of colours Yuuto noticed one person making their way towards him and a horribly uncomfortable looking Shun. Yuuya gracefully side-stepped every party-goer and though he managed to bump into one of them he immediately caught the drink he had knocked out and gave it back with a twirl and sparkling smile. His clothing screamed flashy as it looked like he was wearing at least half of the rainbow on himself and his face was already marked with paint. He got through somehow and waved to Yuuto and Shun.

“Hi there,” he breathed out, sounding both excited and slightly nervous. “I don’t have a lot of time since I already kind of ran away from the performers’ rooms and Yuzu is probably going to kill me, but I just wanted to say that if you decide on anything I got a way to smuggle you guys in after the party is over. Follow me, I’ll show you where to meet me so that we don’t waste any time.” He grabbed Yuuto by the arm and began wading through the people. Shun followed close in tow and the three of them quickly reached a less crowded corridor.

Yuuya opened one of the doors and showed them in. It looked like a simple waiting room with some bookshelves, a medium sized table and some sofas. “This place will be open and we can make a rendezvous here. I’m pretty sure no one will come here, but if they do you should think of an excuse to be here. I’ll come as soon as the performances end.”

“And if we don’t see anything?” Yuuto asked.

“Then we can decide what to do next. Either way, just remember this place,” Yuuya spilled quickly as he kept glancing at the grandfather clock by one of the walls. “I have to sprint back now, so I hope you enjoy the show!”

Yuuya ducked through the door and Yuuto could hear the furthering footsteps down the hall. He looked at Shun who was still picking at his collar and sighed before taking his tie and fixing it again.

* * *

 

Everyone was ushered to a new room once the clock struck nine. It looked reminiscent of a theatre and Yuuto took a spot on one of the higher levels so that he could see everything better from up top. Shun also seemed to like that idea as both of them leaned over the railing and looked at the large stage before them.

After everyone had gathered the King made a speech from his seat about how glad he was that so many people had come to celebrate their joyous event and how happy he was that even the royalty from their neighbouring kingdom had come to visit and show their good connections. Yuuto could make out two new people besides the Queen and the prince sitting near him – a silver haired young man and a smaller kid beside him. The older one looked stoic as the King spoke, while the kid appeared to be wanting to be anywhere but there. He could kind of relate.

After the speech was over and Yuuto had already forgotten most of it, a hypnotizing melody took over the room as a group of dancers entered the stage, the lights dimming all around except for the ones on them. The group of women wore translucent clothing that Yuuto had never really seen before and their jewellery swayed and sparkled as their bodies moved rhythmically to the music. The boy noticed that at a slightly less eye-catching area a number of musicians sat, one of them clearly Yuzu who was intensely focused on her violin. He smiled at that and turned his attention back to the dancers, now seeing that one of them had clearly taken the lead and her inky hair waving back and forth as she elegantly moved around the stage. From where he was standing he couldn’t exactly see the dancers’ faces clearly, it didn’t help that they all had half of theirs covered, but from what he could tell all of the others looked like they were trying to seduce the audience with their eyes alone, except for the one that had taken the lead. Her gaze was more focused and Yuuto imagined that her mouth was pressed into a thin line.

A few more acts took place after that, one where some of the musicians even took to the stage and Yuuto could watch Yuzu better as she performed along a few other people. After that all of the lights suddenly disappeared as the room was plunged into darkness. A wave of murmurs went through the crowd but it was quickly dispelled as Yuuya’s booming voice resounded through the space. The boy greeted the guests and promised them a show like they had never seen before. A few bright red lights turned on at one side of the stage, way up near the ceiling, showing everyone a colourfully dressed person hanging by his knees on one of the extended ropes, waving to everyone as he swayed with his body upside down.

As he did so some more lights, now blue, flashed at the other corner of the stage and another person clad in a similar style of clothing, though with the colours inverted from the other one, standing atop the rope and bowing to the awed crowd. The two didn’t waste any time as they both jumped down from their spots, swinging by something tethered to them, or at least Yuuto hoped so. They met in the middle with Yuuya catching the other one – most likely Sora – by the arms and throwing him back in the air. The smaller kid made a few saltos before landing effortlessly in the centre of the stage.

The two continued putting on a show as they juggled with each other who was talking to the audience. It was clear that they had easily captivated the people there and it was also interesting for Yuuto to watch as he had never seen Yuuya performing with someone else like this, only by himself with the occasional company of Yuzu. At one point they even offered for someone from the audience to come join them and one of the obviously noble kids climbed up without a moment’s notice. He loudly announced that his name was Shingo when Yuuya asked him and seemed to get even more into the show than the two performers who tried to include him in their act.

After they were done there were some more displays, some from their kingdom, some clearly from their guests, but as the evening kept stretching on, Yuuto felt the nervousness grow inside him. He glanced at Shun who also seemed to be itching in his spot and even the current singer’s melodious voice did nothing to distract him. As the performance ended and the singer cleared the stage a new voice spoke from where the royal family was seated.

“I’m sure we’ve all been having a tremendous amount of fun tonight,” the sickly sweet tone of the prince travelled through the room and made a shiver run down Yuuto’s spine. “I wonder if there could even be anything that could top all of this, but, dear guests, let me try to do that. You see, not too long ago I chanced upon finding something quite unusual and I thought what better way to share it with everyone than doing it here and now? And so, let me introduce the closing event of this party!” He extended his arms wildly as he stood from his seat, reminiscent of how Yuuya and Sora had done during their performance, and as he did so a collective gasp washed over the people gathered there.

A huge golden birdcage was rolled by a couple of guards onto the stage with all of the lights focused on it. Yuuto grit his teeth as he watched the same girl he had seen all those years ago sit dejectedly inside of it, her deep violet wings resting on the cage’s floor lifelessly and her whole frame hunched over herself.

“Ruri,” the word escaped Shun’s mouth as a low growl.

“Isn’t it amazing that creatures only thought to be real in myths and stories actually exists in our world?” the prince continued talking as everyone else kept murmuring to themselves or the other party-goers. “I couldn’t believe it myself, but here we are!”

“Bullshit,” Shun said more aggressively and Yuuto felt the need to join him in that.

“So everyone, feast your eyes on one of my pets that will be part of what I hope to soon be a large collection!” The sweet voice had turned venomous somewhere in the middle of the prince’s speech, but no one seemed to give a damn about that as they all just oohed and aahed at the helpless girl on the stage.

Yuuto managed to tear his eyes from the awful sight only to see that Shun was gripping the padded railings so tightly that his knuckles had gone white and his hands were trembling. His teeth were barred and his eyes shone brightly in the dark surrounding everything that wasn’t the stage.

“Shun,” Yuuto tried to catch his attention, but that failed to work as the other only stepped closer to the rails.

_It still takes concentration to do it and we can’t if one or both of the wings are injured or if we’re having more intense emotions than usual._

Heavy understanding hit Yuuto as he watched the narrowed eyes of the avian glint and he realized that he didn’t have much time before something disastrous happened.

“Shun, we have to go.” He grabbed the boy’s arm and forcefully yanked it towards himself. It was a lot harder than he had thought as the other only turned at him, barely moving from his spot, and snarled. “ _Now_ ,” he demanded as he dug his nails deeper and began pulling Shun towards the entrance where they had come to the higher level of the room.

Somehow he managed to drag the angered avian away from the crowd of people who didn’t spare them any glances as they kept their attention focused on Ruri. Shun was trying to fight it and kept saying something that sounded like his sister’s name, but Yuuto hadn’t spent years of his life doing manual labour for nothing.

Eventually they ended up in the room that Yuuya had showed them and Yuuto shoved Shun inside it, slammed the door behind him and even checking if there was a lock. Luckily, there was and the click was satisfying to hear. He quickly turned back to Shun who was staring at him with a threatening look on his face.

“The fuck are you doing?” he asked in a similarly dangerous tone.

“Keeping you away from making a scene and ruining everything,” Yuuto shot back, not taken aback by the slightest. This was no time to be throwing a temper tantrum. “You told me yourself that your wings appear when you are having intense emotions, and if anyone asked me, I’d say you were having exactly that back there. We were lucky that no one saw your eyes, but if your wings had sprouted in the middle of the room, saving Ruri would had been the least of our worries then.” He gave a forceful look of his own as he stared Shun down.

That seemed to shut the other up as he clenched his fists and closed his eyes, taking one deep breath and exhaling slowly. “Right,” he spit the word out, obviously frustrated by the whole situation.

“Look,” Yuuto spoke more softly now as he took a few steps away from the door and towards Shun. “We did what we had set out to do – made sure that it’s Ruri there. Now we’ll gather ourselves, wait for Yuuya and decide on what we should do next.” He placed one hand on the other’s arm in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

“I need to help her. You saw how she looked.” Shun’s eyes were cast downward, but they were avoiding looking directly at Yuuto.

“I did and I fucking hated it,” Yuuto agreed. “So I propose this.” He leaned his head to the side so he could catch Shun’s line of sight and smiled at him.

“We’re saving Ruri tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> [Additional art showcasing one of Shun's endless problems](http://yaboybokuto.tumblr.com/post/164257815106/wheres-the-update-ema)
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> [Also something from the first chapter](http://shehero6.tumblr.com/post/164359691495/human-eyes-usually-didnt-glow-yellow-in-the-dim) (thank you so much again)


	4. All the fun happens at night

Her steps were almost inaudible as she carefully placed her feet on the fancy floor of the hallway that led to the royal chambers. Hushed speaking could be heard from just around the corner, most likely the guards that were taking watch outside one of the royalty’s rooms. The girl stopped, wondered for a few moments if that was the proper way of guarding, but let the matter slide quickly. For whatever reason they were doing it and not concentrating on their job only made things easier for her.

She had checked the castle’s layout with a few of the chattier workers there and made sure that the person whom she was looking for was definitely behind these doors. Now was the time to take her plan into action.

The first guard didn’t even notice her as she swiftly knocked him out, barely making a sound as she did so. The second seemed to somewhat realize what was happening, but that was still too slow as he only managed to get his sword halfway out of its sheath before he also slid down to the floor with a heavy thump. She had considered just killing them, but that would have been too messy and they might had made more noise.

There was an unused bedroom not too far away from there, probably a guest one, she figured. It took a bit of effort to drag the two men there in her smaller frame, but she didn’t have time to complain about that. She tied them up just in case and quickly left the room to go back to the now unguarded one. Luckily, the doors weren’t even locked. Honestly, did anyone even care about the state of safety in this place? She closed them behind her as she entered the bedroom and drew her dagger out.

This one wouldn’t get away with just a simple knock out.

The room was huge and the dim moonlight managed to get through the thin, almost translucent curtains that covered the equally large windows, casting everything in a cold hue. The bed was by one of the walls, not too far away from the windows and she clearly saw the sleeping figure in it. She tried to keep her cool as she made her way towards it, but her steps were faster than before with the guards.

The prince looked almost innocent as he slept soundly in his expensive silks, but that didn’t matter to her. He was lying in the centre of the giant bed - why did everything need to be so big in this dammed place – so there was no comfortable way for her to get near him without getting on the bed as well. Still, she was sure she could do it in one fluid motion – climb up, slice his throat and be done with it, fleeing the same way she had come in.

The prince didn’t stir as she knelt beside him, steadying her blade and getting ready to end it in a moment, but as she gripped the dagger tighter and narrowed her eyes, he opened his own. The two of them stared at one another for a split second, the moonlight reflecting in his magenta ones with an eerie glow that didn’t seem natural.

She didn’t have time. The girl slapped her other arm on his mouth and raised the one with the blade to get ready to cut, but the silence of the room was broken by a couple of knocks on the door. It was quickly opened, though the one doing that was obviously trying to be discreet. A younger looking guard spoke through the halfway opened entrance, “Uh, please excuse me, but I noticed that the usual guards weren’t at their posts here?” He froze in place once his eyes stumbled upon the sight of the prince in his bed with another person straddling him. “I’m so sorry to intrude! I promise I didn’t see anything!” his previously hushed whisper turned into a flustered spill of words as he slammed the door shut.

The commotion had distracted her, she let her attention wander to the newcomer and didn’t realize her mistake before it was too late. The prince grabbed her arm that held the weapon and yanked it from her, managing to slash her hand that was on his mouth in the process. She hissed, but held tight on the blade as both of them began to struggle.

The door slammed open. “Wait a minute,” the same guard spoke as he tried to look at the couple on the bed in the dimly lit room. A little glisten from the dagger was all he needed to jump forward, drawing his sword and getting ready to slash it at the intruder.

The girl jumped off the bed, her main priority shifting from killing to avoiding of being killed, but she wasn’t fast enough to completely evade the soldier’s sword and so the sharp edge grazed the same arm that had been injured by the prince, cutting through the thin dark fabric that she wore and drawing blood. She was fast enough to dart past him, though, manoeuvring easier with her light clothing and running through the opened doors into the hallway.

The guard was about ready to run after her and alert the rest of the castle, but a momentary thought wavered him in his step. He turned back to see if the prince hadn’t been injured and in that time the door clicked shut, followed by the sound of a key turning.

The prince raised one eyebrow as he looked at the empty space near the door – it was made in a way that only allowed it to be locked from the inside. With a glance he saw the guard’s eyes widen before he immediately turned to look in the same direction as well, but that was still too slow as another creak resounded from the door that led to the balcony outside.

“I told you I could get you in.”

* * *

 

_A few hours earlier_

They spent their time waiting for Yuuya to come by talking about what they could do to help Ruri. It was clear to Yuuto that Shun was still upset, but the other had taken to sulking rather than aggressively lashing out. At least he had managed to calm him down and they had some time to think with all of the other guests still at the party.

Yuuya came after about an hour, his colourful make-up gone and his expression a lot more sombre from his usual one. “I saw her too,” he said as he entered the room. “Did you decide on anything?”

“Yeah,” Yuuto answered. “We’re going to try and get her out tonight.”

Yuuya nodded and gestured for the two to follow him. It had become a lot quieter outside of the room and only a couple of people passed them as they walked down the various maze-like hallways. Yuuya told them that the honoured guests had asked to retire earlier and the royal family followed suit, so the party was already wrapping up. There was plenty for everyone to think about.

They were greeted by a single guard to the servant and palace workers quarters. Yuuya greeted him cheerfully, his demeanour changing instantly, and exchanged a few words about the party before asking the guard if it was alright that his friends stayed over for the night as they lived too far away to go back during the night. The burly man waved his hand, saying that there was no problem and that they could trust him not to blab. After all, Yuuya’s friends were his friends.

“Are they allowed to do that?” Shun asked when they were out of earshot.

“Not really, but Gongenzaka’s a good guy and I’ve known him forever, so we’re good,” Yuuya answered as they took another turn and finally stopped in front a simple door, one of the many that were scattered down the corridor. “It’s nothing too special, but I welcome you nonetheless.” He opened the doors with a light bow before finally raising his head back up when he saw that neither of the other two were entering his room, but standing still and looking inside of it. “I know I said it’s nothing special, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t at least a dump, so why are you-”

“Hi, Yuuya!” The blue haired partner that Yuuto had seen during the performance was now sitting on Yuuya’s bed as if he owned the place.

“Sora?” The redhead entered his room with a few unsure steps. “What are you doing here and how did you get in? Did you steal my keys again?”

“Can’t say that I did, can’t say that I didn’t,” the other entertainer grinned at him before his eyes travelled to Yuuto and Shun, still standing in the doorway. His grin turned more to one side and his green eyes narrowed. “And I see you brought your friends.”

Yuuya turned back to Yuuto looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, he does this sometimes.”

“It’s cause you make it too easy,” the playful tone of the kid sounded out of place considering the rest of the atmosphere. “Besides, a little birdie told me that something fun was going down tonight and I thought I’d want to be part of whatever that was.”

By Yuuya’s confused expression it was obvious that he hadn’t told his partner anything about Ruri or what they had planned and Yuuto was ready to confront the kid, but Shun beat him to the punch.

“And how the hell do you know that?” With a few steps he was already in front of Sora and glaring down at him.

“I told you already,” the other’s voice dropped as he stood up from the bed, though he was still way too short to intimidate anyone, let alone Shun. “You should learn to listen better.”

“Well, whatever. Who cares about that?” Yuuya stepped in, trying to diffuse the tension that was rising up in the room. “You always know everything either way. So what do you want to do, join us?”

“Yup!” Sora’s expression did a one eighty as he turned his attention back to the other entertainer. “I think I could be useful in whatever you decide to do. After all – I have many talents.”

Yuuya sighed at that. “Yeah, yeah. You do.”

“So how are you going to get the prince’s new pet?”

This time it was Yuuto’s turn to jump in as he barely managed to grab onto Shun’s arm, which was already raised and prepared to deck the kid where it hurt most.

“Don’t you fucking call her that!” he snarled at the kid who looked unimpressed. In a way Yuuto kind of wanted to let go of Shun just to see what would happen, but decided against that and pulled the other a bit further away.

“Remember the wings?” he whispered to his ear and eyed his back to check for any clear signs if the expensive material of the tailcoat was about to get ripped to pieces. He then turned back to the other people in the room. “First of all we need to change clothes.”

“You can borrow mine since we’re about the same build, but I’m not sure if I’ll have anything for Shun,” Yuuya said.

“I can get him something if he promises to control himself,” Sora offered in a sing-song voice.

“Fine,” Yuuto shot back curtly before Shun could, squeezing him once more on the arm. “He’s not worth it,” he whispered again.

Once Sora came back with a new set of looser clothes, Yuuya eyeing him and the bundle suspiciously, and the two had changed, Yuuto explained what they had decided on.

None of them knew where exactly Ruri was being kept, and even if they did, moving around the castle like this would only cause trouble. However, they did know where the main cause of this problem was. Yuuto figured that if they wanted a bargaining chip, the prince would be the most valuable one. They could either get him to show them where Ruri was, or just take him by force if he didn’t agree. After that, they could use him for an exchange. With Yuuya’s put in, they knew that there was a way to get to his room from the gardens and those were usually not very heavily guarded. It would be completely possible to sneak through them without encountering anyone at all. The only difficult part would be getting inside of his room from the balcony outside of it, since it would most likely be locked and breaking in could cause a lot of noise and possible commotion.

Everyone listened with serious looks on their faces as Yuuto talked, except for Sora, who toyed with a candy in his hand. He threw it in the air and caught it with his mouth. “Leave that to me then,” he said.

“Did you seriously get the keys to even _the prince’s_ freaking room?” Yuuya looked at him incredulously.

Sora didn’t answer, only flashed him a smile.

* * *

 

Yuuto could have said that everything had gone pretty smoothly. Sora ran off on his own, telling the other three to get to the balcony and wait for him. Yuuya had guided them through the gardens, ducking behind the hedges and even climbing up the trees whenever he thought that someone else was there. Yuuto and Shun followed in tow, though maybe not as gracefully as him. Yuuto didn’t want for Shun to use his wings yet as they could be easily spotted that way, so they all stayed to the ground.

However, Shun did help them get to the upper floors where the royal bedchambers were. He only did that once Yuuya had made sure that no one would see them and even then they did it in a hurry.

Just as Sora had promised, eventually the balcony doors clicked open and the three of them entered the room only to see a very confused Yuugo standing in front of the very awake prince.

“I told you I could get you in.” Sora said proudly.

“Yeah, and apparently get the guard here as well,” Shun replied as his wings spread out through the room, blocking some of the already dim light that was coming in through the window. His golden eyes looked even brighter then.

“Yuuya?” Yuugo asked when he finally realised who was standing in front of him. He turned to look at Sora, “And the kid?”

Yuuto would have felt sorry for him if not for the hinder he had put in their plan.

Yuugo then turned to him and Shun and his eyes widened even more. “The recluse and the moody dude? With _wings_?”

“Quite a rowdy night this has turned out to be, don’t you think?” a voice finally came from behind the guard and they all watched as the prince stepped forward with an intrigued look on his face, to which Shun’s response was a threatening hiss.

“He shouldn’t have been here,” Yuuya whispered to Yuuto in a slight panic. “He isn’t one of the prince’s personal guards.”

“And yet here he is.” Shun didn’t sound as panicked, though.

“Heh, well this sure is funny,” Yuuya began in a louder tone, turning to look at Yuugo directly. “You see, we aren’t here to really cause any harm or anything.” Shun let out a small laugh and Yuuto nudged him to stay quiet. “We only want to talk and maybe find a compromise.”

“Oh, I think it’s clear what you came here for,” the prince interjected as Yuugo only stared at Yuuya, “but you know whom to listen to in this room, right?” He tapped the guard on his arm lightly, catching his gaze for a split second before turning his attention to the newcomers. “I’m actually really excited to see you all here!” He spread his arms in a welcoming manner that only looked mocking in the current situation.

“Oh, where are my manners,” he laughed. “My name is Yuuri, but I’m pretty sure you all know that already. Especially you, Yuuya and Sora.” Even in the low light his magenta eyes looked as if they were glistening. It was definitely an uncomfortable sight. “Can’t say I expected a mutiny from my entertainers of all people, yet here we are. But you got me another avian! Isn’t that exciting?”

“I’m no fucking pet for you and neither is my sister,” Shun’s tone had turned dangerously calm.

“I could argue about that.” Yuuri finally put on one of the lights by his bed, casting the room in a warmer orange hue.

“Hey, Yuugo?” Yuuya still tried with his previous tactic. “We really don’t want to cause a commotion and it would be a lot safer if you put down your sword. You could even help us if you wanted.” He smiled at his friend, but the other didn’t react, only stood in the same place he had been and held his weapon loosely by his leg. In the candlelight his stare looked eerily blank.

“You shouldn’t bother,” Yuuri waved them off as he walked to stand at the guard’s side. “He can’t do anything without my orders at this point.”

“How loyal is he?” Yuuto asked Yuuya, but the prince just laughed more at that.

“Oh this isn’t loyalty.” He got even closer to Yuugo, putting his hands on his right shoulder and leaning in so that his lips almost touched his ear. “Yuugo, wasn’t it? Would you want to hurt your friends?”

Even in his blank state of an expression it looked like that question unnerved the young knight as he began to slightly fidget in his place. Yuuri patted him on the cheek with a crooked smile before he stepped back.

“What did you do?” Yuuto broke the silence again as Shun only looked interested in jumping the prince, while Yuuya seemed to be distressed at what was happening. Sora watched everything with an interested look, but didn’t say anything.

“You could call that one of my talents.” Yuuri shrugged. “I got that from my mother.”

“The queen?”

“Luckily, no. Since you all took time off from your very important schedules, I might as well entertain my guests.” Yuuri began pacing slowly as he talked. “You see, the king isn’t really the most faithful person, but you don’t hear that very often, now do you? The queen of course knows this, but they wouldn’t dare to make it public, imagine how much uproar that would cause.” The little smile on his face made it seem as if he was remembering a fond memory, though the subject sounded far from that. “Oh no, my mother was a lot more special than the queen. There was no way father could have said no to her even if he had wanted to, which from what I’ve heard he clearly didn’t. It’s quite hard to disobey an incubus.”

“I thought incubi were all male?” Yuuya commented in a confused tone.

“Check your Latin then.” Yuuri looked at him patronizingly. “Anyway, incubus or succubus, it doesn’t really matter. All that does is the fact that here I am, having gotten most of my genes from my mother. And it isn’t just my looks.” He flashed them a wider smile, a few sharper teeth poking out from under his lips. As he did so, Yuuto finally noticed something else moving close to his legs. A slick and thin black tail wiggled back and forth in a hypnotizing manner. Something similar to a spade rested at the very end of it and a thought of a scorpion’s stinger came to Yuuto’s mind. The prince passed Yuugo, who had been standing like a lifeless doll the entire time he had been speaking, the tail brushing past his chin and the end of it making him turn his head towards Yuuri, seemingly following the others movements even in his dazed state. “Capes really help hide this little pesky thing. No one questions them too.

Thank goodness I don’t have to feed like her, though.” Yuuri put up his arms in a careless manner as if he was just venting to his friends about a small problem he had gotten over. “That would be too much of a hassle. Wouldn’t want the common folk to think their prince is a whore or something, but I did find over the years that it’s really easy for me to make other people do what I want them to.” As he said that he focused his gaze on Yuuya and even in the more clear light of the candle it seemed that his eyes had gotten a lot brighter.

 Yuuya laughed weakly at that and scratched the back of his head as he did. “Funny that you said ‘people’ since I’m not sure if I would qualify for that.”

Now it was turn for Yuuri to look perplexed. Yuuya’s answer didn’t seem like something he had been expecting to hear.

“I guess the tingly feeling I had gotten sometimes when I was around you was from whatever you’re doing now?” Yuuya pointed at Yuuri’s eyes with a small twirl of his finger.

“Wouldn’t qualify?” Yuuto turned to look at his friend as even more confusion washed over him and a cold feeling settled in his stomach.

Yuuya sighed and shook his head. “I had really wanted for this to have happened differently. Maybe on your eighteenth birthday? Well, the cat’s out of the bag either way. Or should I say dog?” He smiled slightly apologetically as his red eyes flashed brighter momentarily before right where Yuuya had been standing just seconds before, a huge wolf now took his place, its deep brown fur looking like it was tinted with red in the candle’s light.

The animal pounced immediately at Yuuri, the other looking at it with amazement in his eyes and not moving an inch. However, Yuugo did move, jumping right in front of him and getting tackled to the ground instead. The two began to struggle, the wolf (or did it still count as Yuuya?) obviously not wanting to injure his friend, but trying to at least keep him pinned so that he wouldn’t do anything, and Yuugo trying to get out from under him, his sword lying forgotten on the floor as he pushed back with both of his arms.

“Ah man, I can’t be one-upped like this,” Sora whined from beside Yuuto, startling him slightly as the kid had stayed silent through the whole ordeal. “Though at least you can finally stop pretending now, Yuuya.” Glee could be heard in his voice as the younger entertainer began stretching him arms and legs in the middle of the commotion.

He jumped a few times and craned his neck before seemingly deciding that he was done with the theatrics and for the second time that day Yuuto watched as a person turned into an animal right before his eyes.

There had definitely been something in those drinks that the servants had offered.

The bear that took Sora’s place wasn’t tall enough to reach the extremely high ceiling of the room, but it still looked intimidating in its stance. Yuuto didn’t even question why it had a blue colouring to it, that was one of the least concerning things to him that day. At least it didn’t roar, keeping relatively silent, but also not making much effort to help Yuuya or really do anything at all.

Maybe the kid really did just want to show off?

Yuuto decided that this was his time to pretend that all of this had been planned and that he had been part of it from the very beginning. He cleared his throat to get Yuuri’s attention on him. The prince looked as if he was slightly annoyed by the turn of the events, but something in his expression also hinted at barely supressed excitement.

“So with all of this do you still think you have the upper hand in the situation?” Yuuto asked him, managing to get his cool back and deciding that he could just have a long talk with everyone later when this was all over.

“Actually, this is even better than I had expected.” The other clapped his hands as he cocked his head to the side, looking directly at Yuuto now. “Now I can add _three_ more pets to my collection in just one night! I was already planning on pursuing birdie over there so that he wouldn’t be apart from his dear sister for too long, but this is excellent. And with all of this, what do you say,” his voice sounded like a slowly dripping liquid the more he spoke and his unnerving smile seemed to shift into a friendly, welcoming one.

_Were his eyes always this warm hue?_

“Would you like to be the zookeeper of my little menagerie?”

Yuuto found that he couldn’t look away from him, the prince’s whole demeanour now giving off complete friendliness and openness.

_Animals are nice, right? He could stay with Yuuya and Shun. Ruri would be there too, so Shun wouldn’t have to worry anymore._

_He wouldn’t need to think about what he was doing with his life anymore, he would all be set. Shun had been living with him, but once they got Ruri out, both of them would leave. He’d be alone again._

_I don’t want to be alone again._

“Okay.” His voice sounded distant, as if he was listening to it through water.

He could trust Yuuri.

Suddenly, a curtain of black cut off his view, the prince and his gentle eyes disappearing from his sight. Yuuto felt Shun step closer to him and his hand landing on his shoulder, squeezing it with a slight tremble.

“Go fuck yourself,” the avian spat as he glared down at Yuuri.

“I would if I could. Have you seen me?” The prince clicked his tongue and averted his eyes, letting Shun lower his wing so that Yuuto could assess the situation better. His head still felt dizzy, but the sounds in the room felt clearer.

“It would have been much easier with two people on my side, but I’ll have to make do with just one, I guess. Yuugo,” Yuuri called out to the still occupied guard under the wolf. “Don’t you think it would be a shame if something were to happen to your dear prince? As if your own body and soul were to be injured.” As he said that he picked up the blade that had been lying on his bed, a trickle of blood coating its tip. He examined it before the light, turning it over a couple of times before extending his left arm and making a smooth cut on it. He didn’t even flinch as the blood began to drip from his arm, some of it landing on the expensive looking bedsheets.

When Yuugo saw what had happened he immediately began thrashing from under Yuuya, seemingly gaining a lot more energy than he had before. In his struggle Yuuto saw that the guard somehow managed to cut his arm, most likely with the wolf’s nails, in almost exactly the same spot that Yuuri had injured himself. Seeing that, Yuuya loosened his grip on his friend, letting Yuugo get a chance to get away from him only to stand in front of the prince once more, picking up his sword and taking a protective stance so that Yuuri would be safe from any more possible attacks.

Yuuya turned back to his normal self in an instant and looked at Yuuto with a worried expression. Sora, still a bear, took a few steps forward and extended his arms around Yuuya, wrapping them around him and pushing the other entertainer away from Yuuri and Yuugo, closer to himself in a somewhat protective hug, making the other let out a small ‘oof’ sound at that.

Yuuto put his arm up to where Shun had still been holding onto him and gently took it off from his shoulder. With that, he stepped forward and locked his eyes with the prince once more, though this time he didn’t waver in his thoughts about their colour or allure. “Let’s make a deal then.”

The night wouldn’t last forever, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't let your local gays distract you from your goals, kids


End file.
